Derby Talk

Derby Talk is a forum for Pinewood Derby, Awana Grand Prix, Kub Kar Rally, Shape N Race Derby, Space Derby, Raingutter Regatta and other similar races where a child and an adult work together to create a race vehicle and a lot of fun and memories

I've never had great luck with the slots. For the longest time our pack required us to use the slots. I was so glad when we came back and found that the rules had changed.

I think that the best way to use the slots is to actually drill holes into the slots. The jig I currently have allows you to align with the slots so that you can drill into them. This will likely give a more "true" running car than just using the slots as is.

I am guessing at it, though. I think that's what I would do if I were forced to use slots again.

Many slots are really tight, so pre-drilling the slots is always advisable.

For the Ford Fast Track races for Girl Scouts, I was amazed at the number of cars that came to the Pit Area with bent axles. Some parents would just hammer the nails hard enough to bend them. Some would just hammer them into the block itself, instead of the slots making the likelihood of bent axles even more. So, for quick repair, I would have a pin vise handy to pre-drill the slots so mounting the wheels would be much easier. Certainly that was not ideal, but when at the race it is too late to be nit picky about axle alignment. Something else that came in handy was a set of axle pliers. Those make it easier to insert the wheels or adjust the gap to the car body.

I've been using slots for 33 years and they have served us well. You can use the Max-V 5140 Pro-Body tool 2 if you like but I never do anymore. I clamp the Max-V 5149 Pro Axle Guide to the slot. I lightly grind a BSA nail where the point ends to remove any extra wide area and cut off the head. Put the nail in a drill press, turn it on, and run the nail into the slot. This also works with a hand drill. I remove the steel gauge on the end of the tool and never put it back on because I use the tool for wheel insertion later on. You will probably need to remove the tool with a pair of pliers because it's tight when you clamp it tight to the body of the car. I bend all 3 of the nails to 1 1/2 degrees. With Negative cant on the rears the wheels will migrate to the heads of the nails and also allows the removal of any toe if there is any. The right front slot is always our DFW and we set that with Positive cant and tow in setting the car to drift 2" in 4'.
Our left Wheel is raised using the Pro-Body Tool 2 and a hand drill. The car can be set to roll straight because the bend on the DFW axle allows you to steer the car. It's easy, it's FUN, and it's FAST.

Either wheel can be used for the DFW. I just happen to like the right one.

Last edited by Speedster on Thu Jan 25, 2018 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Back in the day's before the derby worx axle drilling tools .. or the pro axle guide.. and Max V axle pliers.
I used to use the superior adjustable axle drilling jig.. on the edge of a flat counter top to drill holes in to the slots.
( sometimes drilling flat and then not!)
Now or day's that old flat bar drilling jig with the adjustable set screw's just takes up space in the derby tool box
along with the round bar roll pen T handle .. axle puller.. as pinewood derby collector tools.

I even went as far as taking a coin like a penny and some masking tape to make a depth gauge for checking the saw cut notches across the block.

Vitamin K, I have a thought. OK, don't stop reading. It's not dangerous.
Your buddy is allowed to run on 3 wheels and that's a big plus. He doesn't need any Derbyworx tools to bend the nails. This is where "Build a Winning Pinewood Derby Car" book comes in handy. The book tells you how to do it with a hammer and screwdriver. If he bends the nails he's ready to rail ride. Perhaps double the gap of the DFW trailing rear wheel to 2 credit cards thickness. That might help. Set the DFW to Positive cant and roll it down a flat service. The car might drift to the left automatically. Whatever the car does make it drift 2" in 4' or something close. A little less drift would probably be more valuable then more drift. Whatever happens on the track will be a learning experience.
If he hasn't cut the car yet simply suggest to him a slim wedge type car will be the fastest.

Thanks for the suggestions. Looks like he's gonna go with the DW Axle Guide tool, which looks pretty good for his purposes.

He's just going with a straight runner, since this is their first car and his wife is already rolling her eyes at the amount of stuff they're doing for it. I wouldn't advise anybody to build a RR car without a tuning board, and that's another thing he'd have to purchase parts for, etc.

Any of you use a derby worx pro body jig to dill canted axle holes into the slots?
Note: my drill bit is just to show how it can be done.( just use the raised axle hole side of the tool !)
It works best to have the block setting on a table top.. and then clamping to the top of the jig and bottom side of table top to hold things however!